North Macedonia Digital Nomad Visa

North Macedonia has no digital nomad visa. There's no bill to create one, only a line in the government's plans.

• Status: Not established (planned only). No digital nomad visa or permit exists in the Law on Foreigners; the Government Work Programme 2024-2028 plans a renewable residence visa for digital nomads staying 3 to 12 months.

The Government Work Programme 2024-2028, dated June 2024 and marked as a working version, aims the planned visa at foreigners who work remotely for an employer abroad and have regular monthly income. The government hasn't published a bill, a start date, an income threshold or a fee.

Until a law creates the visa, remote workers have two lawful routes:

• Short stays: up to 90 days in any 180-day period, visa-free where the passport allows it or on a short-stay C visa.
• Longer stays: temporary residence on one of the grounds in the Law on Foreigners, usually entered on a long-stay D visa.

The North Macedonia guide compares the country's routes.

No one can qualify for a visa that doesn't exist yet. The Work Programme names only the target group: foreigners working remotely for an employer abroad with regular monthly income.

Stays longer than 90 days need temporary residence. Article 71 of the Law on Foreigners grants it on these grounds:

• Work and training: work, specialization, professional training, volunteering and scientific research.
• Study: school, university, language study and international student exchanges.
• Family: family reunification and close family members of North Macedonian citizens.
• Other grounds: medical treatment, care in a home for older people, humanitarian reasons, Macedonian origin, children of foreigners born in the country and EU or OECD citizens who own a flat or house there.

Remote work for a foreign employer isn't one of these grounds. A nomad who fits none of them is limited to short stays.

There's no document list for a digital nomad visa. For temporary residence, the Ministry of Interior publishes a checklist for each ground on its foreigners page.

Every ground shares the conditions in Article 72 of the Law on Foreigners:

• Means of support: enough to live on or support secured in another lawful way.
• Accommodation: a place to live or the money to pay for one.
• Health insurance: cover for the stay.
• Clean record: no unconditional prison sentence of more than six months for a crime prosecuted ex officio in the country of nationality or residence. No criminal proceedings for such a crime can be pending there either.
• Public order: no threat to public order, national security, public health or North Macedonia's international relations.

The application states the purpose of the stay, which can't change while the case is pending (Article 73).

A digital nomad visa has no fee because it doesn't exist. The main government charge on the lawful routes is the long-stay D visa.

• D visa: €70, with a lower fee for children aged 6 to 12, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Temporary residence: the Ministry of Interior's checklist for each ground lists what applicants must file.

There's no application for a digital nomad visa. For temporary residence, the Law on Foreigners sets this sequence:

• File abroad: the temporary residence application goes in with the D visa application at a North Macedonian embassy or consulate or through an authorized visa service provider. The law also allows filing directly with the Ministry of Interior in some cases (Article 73).
• Timing: visa applications go in no earlier than six months and no later than 15 days before the trip, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Decision: the Ministry of Interior decides within 30 working days on applications filed with it and within 60 working days on those filed abroad (Article 75). A refusal can be appealed within 8 days.
• Arrival: the D visa is issued only after temporary residence is approved and allows one entry. Holders report to the Ministry of Interior within 5 days of arriving and receive the residence permit within 25 days of reporting (Article 27).

No duration or renewal rule exists for a digital nomad visa. The Work Programme calls the planned visa renewable but sets no validity period.

Temporary residence under the Law on Foreigners is extended for as long as its purpose requires, up to one year at a time. Extension requests go in no earlier than 30 days before the permit expires and no later than 15 days after (Article 79).

A foreigner who has lived in North Macedonia on temporary residence without a break for five years can apply for permanent residence (Article 2).

North Macedonia has no tax regime for digital nomads.

• Tax residency: a person is resident with a permanent home in North Macedonia or after staying 183 days or more in any 12-month period, counting interrupted stays, under the Personal Income Tax Law.

A remote worker on any residence route who passes either test should check how North Macedonia taxes foreign income before the stay starts.